That was the question a Slate headline asked today. The answer is no. But it can calm your nerves, help slow down your life and boost your immune system. That's what I've found, though I'm more of an Earl Grey fan.

Described as soothing and gentle, it sits paradoxically at the red-hot intersection of New Age health mania and industrial chemistry. Green tea the flavor is rapidly becoming ubiquitous both upscale and down-market, available in a martini glass at trendy L.A. lounges and in a Styrofoam cup at Dunkin Donuts. In the United States, "Eastern" tends to blur together Hinduism, Buddhism, and hucksterism.

The article by Slate Editor Jaboc Weisberg is full of links to other stories, products like New Zen Green Tea Truffles and medical research. (That's a photo of green tea potato chips.) Weisberg waxes sarcastic about the fact that green tea's benefits are not judged by reality but by the way it makes you feel:

The implicit bargain in buying these products is that green tea will make you not just spiritually complete, but morally superior. This is partly because green tea had the good sense to have the word green as part of its name. It is not entirely clear how drinking tea resists climate change, but it is evident that serene, grounded green tea sippers—unlike those aggressive, overcharged coffee-heads—emit only minuscule quantities of carbon. With "one sip" of Tazo green tea, whose logo is expressed in what looks like ancient runes, "you reincarnate the original spirit of enlightenment that may have inspired the Japanese tea ceremony." After a second sip, it seems unlikely that you will invade a Middle Eastern country. The canister on my desk says the tea bags it contains embody "a wisdom beyond wisdom, capable of enlightening both mind and body." I just drank several cups and I do believe it's working.